Tips to Lower Your Risk of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss causes are generally categorized as congenital or acquired. Congenital hearing loss is caused by factors present at birth, such as genetics, maternal diabetes and more. Because these causes are present at birth, they cannot be changed. Acquired causes are a little different.

Acquired causes are those acquired after birth during any time in a person’s life. Some common acquired causes include but are not limited to:

Loud noise exposure
Head injury
Ototoxic drugs
Certain diseases and infections

Let’s discuss some positive changes you can make to lower your risk of hearing loss.

Minimize Noise Exposure

Approximately 17% of adults aged 20-69 years have suffered permanent damage to their hearing from excessive noise exposure. Noise exposure is one of the most common causes of hearing loss and one of the easiest to prevent through lifestyle changes.

Two ways that you can minimize your noise exposure are:

Wearing hearing protection. Earmuffs and earplugs dampen the force with which sound hits the ear. Wearing hearing protection when loud noise cannot be avoided will help ensure your ears are not permanently damaged.
Lowering the volume. Lowering the following on TVs, stereos and headphones is a great way to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. Keep your devices below 70 decibels to help prevent damage.

Read Your Medication Labels

Medications that cause hearing loss and tinnitus are known as ototoxic drugs. There are currently over 200 known ototoxic medications used to treat infections, cancer and heart disease on the market today. Because ototoxic drugs often treat serious life-threatening conditions, they cannot always be avoided.

Reading the side effects of your medications and talking to your healthcare team about the effects of certain drugs on your hearing will help you make an informed decision about your treatment plan.

Promptly Treat Diseases and Infections

Untreated diseases and infections have the potential to damage the ear and lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss. Some common hearing loss-causing diseases and infections include but are not limited to:

Ear infections
Meningitis
Measles
Encephalitis
Influenza
Chickenpox
Mumps

These conditions should be treated promptly to prevent lasting hearing damage. Take yourself or your child to the doctor immediately if symptoms arise, and make sure to stay up to date on any available vaccinations for the listed conditions.

Following these three tips will help prevent unnecessary hearing damage or loss. Contact Center For Hearing today for more tips about improving your hearing health.

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The Future of Hearing Devices: Deep Neural Networks & Artificial Intelligence

February 14, 2025

Hearing technology has come a long way over the years; however, one aspect of hearing loss that many hearing aids have difficulty addressing is trouble understanding speech in noise. Fortunately, some of today’s state-of-the-art devices can solve this problem utilizing deep neural networks (DNN) and artificial intelligence (AI). Sensorineural hearing loss causes difficulty understanding speech in background noise. This type of hearing loss is caused by damage to the hair cells of the inner ear that convert soundwaves into electrical energy, which are then interpreted by the brain. This causes the quality and quantity of the signal sent from the ears to the brain to diminish over time, resulting in the brain expending more energy and effort to make sense of it. DNNs may help improve the transmission of the neural code, making hearing easier on the brain. [1] It’s important to know what DNNs are to understand how they can help. DNNs are a subset of AI. They rapidly analyze large data sets so that they can teach hearing aids and other technological devices how to respond to data like a human would, all while verifying accuracy and making corrections. DNNs are beneficial in hearing technology because they can help with speech enhancement. DNNs can be applied as “time-frequency masks,” meaning select sounds—like speech—are allowed while other sounds are suppressed. DNNs can also identify and separate multiple voices, selecting a primary voice to emphasize and secondary voices to suppress. This feature can help hearing device wearers in a variety of settings. For example, at a restaurant or party, the hearing device can emphasize a conversation partner, allow other nearby voices at a reduced volume and suppress background noises such as dishes clinking. Schedule an appointment to talk to Center for Hearing about our vast state-of-the-art hearing solutions today— (239) 434-0086. [1] Published by Douglas L. Beck. (2021, January 15). Deep neural networks in hearing devices. Retrieved April 2, 2021 from https://www.hearingreview.com/hearing-products/hearing-aids/deep-neural-networks

Startup Aims to Develop the First Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss

February 14, 2025

A Boston biotech startup is attempting to develop the first gene therapy treatment for hearing loss. If successful, it promises to offer new hope to the estimated 300,000 Americans who suffer from gene-based hearing loss—a number that includes more than 4,000 newborns. The timing may not be ideal, but biotech companies have been largely immune from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession. Developing new drugs takes years, so these companies are better able to weather storms. And the efforts of biotechnology companies that are focusing on tools to prevent and treat potentially fatal health threats has resulted in soaring stock values for many of these companies, even in the face of the current crisis. Akouos, the Boston startup, was founded in 2016. Its goal is to develop the first gene therapy to treat hearing loss and is targeting a specific form of deafness that results from mutations in a single gene. They are experimenting with adeno-associated viruses, using them as vectors to deliver DNA that encodes a functioning gene in certain target cells. Around 7,000 people are afflicted with this type of genetic hearing loss. Adeno-associated viruses are considered viable candidates because they don’t usually cause disease and can be customized to treat a variety of genetic conditions. The company has partnered with two influential organizations: Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Lonza, a Swiss manufacturing company that holds contracts with various pharmaceutical makers. Manny Simons, Akouos’ co-founder and chief executive, holds a degree in neuroscience from Harvard College, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. His desire to help those with hearing loss stems from his passion for playing the piano. “It’s easy to take hearing for granted,” said in a Boston Globe interview. “Maybe because music has been important to me, it’s something that I take a little less for granted.” [1] [1] Saltzman, J. (2020, June 22). Akouos, a startup developing a gene therapy for hearing loss, raises IPO value to $125 million - The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 30, 2020, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/22/business/ipo-upped-akouos-boston-startup-working-gene-therapy-hearing-loss/